


Wet Dream

by ddelusionall



Series: He Has A Mermaid [1]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, JYJ (Band)
Genre: Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Merman Kim Jaejoong, Merpeople, My dream fish tank, Organized Crime, Yunho is a crime boss, crab, implied Yoochun/Junsu, implied Yunho/Jaejoong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-30
Updated: 2012-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:27:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23881537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddelusionall/pseuds/ddelusionall
Summary: Micky is the best at cleaning up other people's messes. He's not sure what to do when faced with something only in his dreams.
Relationships: Kim Jaejoong/Park Yoochun
Series: He Has A Mermaid [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721140





	1. Close Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> I am importing my stories from LiveJournal. The original fic can be found [here](http://be-ddelusionall.livejournal.com/).
> 
> I haven't read this story in a long time, so I may have missed some tags. Just let me know if I did.

Micky slipped quietly through the many rooms of one of Jung Yunho’s many safe houses, getting a feel for the layout. He’d received an official tour from Yunho’s main servant, Shim Changmin, but exploring on his own always netted him better results. Those who didn’t know him, or talked of him in whispers, would think that he was scoping the place out to rob it. He was the only one there, after all, and looked highly suspicious wearing nothing but black. It wasn’t everyday that one was given free reign of a crime boss’s mansion.

A lucrative deposit, paid mainly for Micky’s silence, already warmed his bank account, and if things went well, a higher amount would be deposited every two weeks.

Micky was known for his silence as well as his ability to clean up messes.

So far, he was confused. Most people paid him to clean up blood, entrails or drugs. He was a ghost and paid for his silence. Sometimes he feared for his life, because of everything he knew, but that same knowledge kept him protected. If he was destroyed, someone would be upset that the only man trusted to keep his mouth shut about what he had seen and heard was suddenly dead.

Nothing in this safe house was out of place. Micky couldn’t smell stale blood, urine, drugs or dead body stench. All the furniture was high-end leather and solid wood. Top-of-the-line appliances gleamed silver in the kitchen. Each room (six of them) had an en suite bathroom, walk-in closet and a king-sized bed.

The most interesting thing in the house was the aquarium. Micky had never seen one so large outside of a zoo or an aquatic center. It stretched floor to ceiling in the main room, and then tunnels and tunnels connected to other rooms. The bottom of the tanks in the main rooms looked like a coral reef, and Micky wondered how long it’d taken to construct the entire structure.

Shim Changmin had given him a layout and map of the aquarium. It was twice the cubic meters of the house.

As Micky wandered through the house, he wondered what was in a tank so large. Maybe a dolphin, or a shark. So far, he hadn’t seen any signs of even the smallest fish.

When asked, all Shim Changmin said about it was, “You saw nothing.”

And Micky agreed. He was still alive because he saw and heard nothing.

The majority of Micky’s time over the next two weeks was spent cleaning the aquarium. He kept the glass free of streaks (easy since he was the only one in the apartment). There were metal doors that could be shut, allowing him to drain just a section of the tank and clean it, without having to do it all at once. Each section had a scheduled cleaning time every week, so it was on a cycle. Within two months, he would have cleaned every section once.

Shim Changmin had left him with specific instructions on pH balances and salt content; how and what to add to the water; and checking the temperature everyday and monitoring it in a log.

But by far the strangest thing was what was titled “The Feeding Schedule.” Crab, lobster, various white fish, salmon, trout, tuna, mussels, snails. Each day had a menu and a particular place and time to drop the seafood. The food, as well as food for Micky, was delivered every day to the house by a van marked “Lee Minho’s Fresh Seafood.” Micky searched the company and was only mildly surprised that it was owned by Jung Yunho.

The food disappeared from the waters, so even though Micky never saw anything, something was alive in the tank.

*** < OS<

A month into the schedule, Micky saw something move in the placid waters. He thought it was a fin, but upon closer inspection, it was a crab, scrambling along the coral bottom. It was a king crab that Micky had dropped into the tank almost four days ago. Stubborn thing. He wondered how it managed to stay alive when everything else had died.

Movement flashed over his vision again, and he twisted his head quickly, trying to catch a glimpse of what was in the tank. This time, he definitely saw a turquoise, sparkling tail fin, but it darted out of sight before Micky could see more.

The next week, Jung Yunho called him.

Micky never, ever talked to the people who hired him.

“Everything okay?” Yunho asked.

“Yes,” Micky replied cautiously. “Although there is a king crab crawling around the bottom of the aquarium that has yet to be devoured. I named him Changmin because he’s stubborn and stares at me with beady eyes.”

Yunho laughed. “Fitting. The man has strong claws, too.

“I’m surprised, because according to the food list, king crab is a favorite.”

“Yes, but sometimes my beauty gets lonely.”

Micky wanted to ask, but by the tone of his voice Yunho was testing him. For once, Micky told the truth. “I can honestly say that I have yet to see your beauty.”

“Really? That’s interesting.”

“Fish are smart,” Micky said. “I’m sure he … he or she …”

“He.”

“I’m sure he has learned the routine of cleaning and feeding and doesn’t want to be seen.”

“More than likely. He is only used to Changmin and me. Thank you for taking care of him. I hate being away from him for so long. I will contact you again in a couple weeks and see if he has allowed you a glimpse of his beauty.”

Jung Yunho hung up.

Micky stared at his phone for a little while, and then stared at the wall of water in the main room. Micky did not want to know what Jung Yunho’s water bill was. With a sigh, he went to the kitchen, but kept his eyes on the water.

Changmin the Crab crawled around the tunnel above the kitchen.

*** < OS<

Micky stayed up at night. He had random bouts of nightmares over things he’d seen and done, and then irregular bouts of insomnia. This was one of those irregular times and his brain fogged over from the lack of proper sleep. Still, he continued cleaning the tank and feeding whatever was in it as he was supposed to.

His mother had bought him a fish once, but Micky hated the cleaning. He’d always been so meticulous and so clean. His mother figured a fish was better than a dog or a cat, but every time the thing pooped, Micky had to clean its bowl. That’s probably what killed it.

Doctors tried to diagnose him with OCD, but when asked, Micky would reply, “I like things clean.” He never knew, as a kid scrubbing the sides of that fish bowl, that he’d be using his skills to clean up after mob bosses and trigger happy thugs.

Micky spent most of the insomnia hours wandering the dark halls. There were coral and algae in the tank that glowed slightly, giving the rooms a bluish tinge, and if Micky held his breath, it almost felt like he was underwater.

Underwater.

Micky hated water. He loved eating the things that came out of it, but besides a shower and a hot tub with pretty boys, he wasn’t going to voluntarily get in water.

The only reason he agreed to this is because he had been told he didn’t actually have to go into the water. He had been told, quite forcefully and quite often by Shim Changmin, that he was not allowed to go in the water. When he cleaned some of the areas, he wasn’t able to drain the water completely, because of the corals and anemones, but then the water only came up to his knees at its deepest.

As he stared at the swaying kelp, Micky wished there were fish in the tank to stare at. Something besides the damn crab.

He leaned his forehead on the cool glass and shut his eyes. He vaguely cared that he’d have to wipe the streak off the glass in the morning. With eyes half shut, his body swayed in time to the plants.

Pale, almost white skin dashed through the edge of his vision.

Micky’s eyes shot open and sure enough, two bare feet twisted and spun out of his line of sight. Panicked, Micky followed them, rushing from room to room, but he only caught sight of them once more in the master bedroom, up at the top of the water, and then they were gone, the water gurgling like someone had just climbed out of the tank. Cursing, Micky tore through the rooms again, to the door that led him to the hidden catwalks and walkways used to access the tank. He remembered where the feet had disappeared and ran until he couldn’t run anymore.

Stopping, he peered through the water, barely discerning the bed and furniture of the master bedroom. This is where … no it had been—

Micky touched the wall next to his hand. This catwalk ended at this wall, and the wall stretched over the tank, making part of the tank inaccessible. Unusual. No other part of the tank was like that.

Micky knocked on the wall, and heard a _thwump_ back. It was hallow behind this wall.

What was on the other side of it?

The only way to find out was to go into the tank. Into the water.

Micky cursed.

Someone was in Jung Yunho’s house, and Jung Yunho’s prized possession was whatever was living in this gigantic fish tank.

With a deep breath, Micky put his bare foot into the water. It was warm, the right temperature of the subtropical climates on the equator. He swallowed nervously, and then decided that whatever was in this tank could probably fend for itself since it had a habit of eating twenty pound fish and crabs with claws. Unless someone had a harpoon, or a dart with a tranquilizer in it.

Bodyguard was not a role Micky played well. He guarded secrets, not people. But this was important. Someone was in the house. It wasn’t just this fish’s life that was at stake. His was, too.

Determined, Micky shucked off his sweat pants, leaving him in tight boxer-shorts. He sat on the catwalk and put his legs in the water. Before he could talk himself out of it, he pushed off and sank, fingers barely keep hold of the metal edge. The tank was almost twelve feet deep right here. Using the edge, Micky scooted over the abnormal wall. He put his hand under it and felt nothing but more metal. It stretched about six feet away from walkway.

With one more pep talk, Micky tread water and did his best to follow it. He kept his breathing even. Being in water was not a great place for a panic attack. About two feet from the corner of the wall, Micky’s hand curled around an edge and he gripped it, face pressed against the wall, glad to have something to cling to.

Something grabbed his leg and Micky shouted out and water filled his mouth and lungs and he was pulled under and over and flailing and kicking something dragged him, and panic cut off his breathing and well, that was probably the water, and hot, moist air hit his skin and his hands were on pure white sand and he coughed, and spit up water.

A firm hand rolled him over and Micky shut his eyes tightly, trying to clear them of salt water. Gentle fingers rubbed his eyelids, and a soothing melody in a language Micky had never heard echoed off the walls.

His eyes shot open, and he sat up with a shout and the something or other held him steady while he hacked up more water.

Strong arms. Pale skin.

Green skin.

Gasping, Micky dared look up from the naked skin, into turquoise eyes and the most beautiful face staring at him in concern, head tilted to the side, rose colored lips pushed into a pout.

“Oh fuck,” Micky whispered.

The beautiful man smiled and shook his head.

Something turquoise flipped into his vision and Micky looked at the man’s body.

The creature’s body.

His mind refused to believe it, but still he stared at the tiny waist where pale green skin turned to deep green scales. Light shimmered off the scales, and Micky licked his dry lips, gaze following the curve of muscles along the thick tail that ended in a forked fin that flipped casually in the water in the tank.

Micky swore again, and leaned back into a strong chest and muscled arms.

He died. In the water.

Whoever had broken in had dragged him under the surface and now he was dead.


	2. Mythical Dream

The body below Micky moved slightly and he felt himself sliding along sand, back toward the water. He clung to a strong arm and shook his head. There was no way he was going in water again. His breathing was still too labored, and he wasn't sure if he was going to have an asthma attack or not, and he did not have an inhaler with him.

The pout on that beautiful face was even more pronounced, and with a flip and a huff, the creature slipped into the water and disappeared.

Micky lay on the warm sand and tried to clear his thoughts.

Jung Yunho had a mermaid? A real, live mermaid?

Or wait, merman. Yunho-shi had said that the creature was male. All those muscles proved him right. He’d seen feet, no denying that, but were they this creature’s feet? Was he like the legends? Could he turn into a man when he wanted? Or had someone broken in?

Micky sat up and turned around. The room behind him was about the size of one of the other bedrooms, and it was wall to wall sand, with a few small palm trees in the corner. Nestled in a shadowed swath of grasses were a hammock and a wooden dresser. There was no way to leave the room except through the water. So if someone had been here, there wasn’t much of a place to hide. Micky assumed that the creature could turn into a human. Or well, at least have legs. Is this where the man version of the merman lived?

Micky faced the water again, trying to find the swimming creature beneath the surface. He sighed, bending his legs, elbows on his knees, face in his hands. He seriously hoped he was dreaming.

Water splashed up on his legs, and Micky moved his hands, startled.

The merman’s head and shoulders were above the water, and he was still pouting.

They stared at each other. His hair was faded blond, tinged with green in the same way his skin was tinged green. It fell in thick wet strands and floated on the water, just like kelp.

The creature held his hands out and his pout deepened.

Micky shook his head, and rubbed his arms.

A pink tongue stuck out of the corner of rose lips.

Micky smiled.

Beautiful. Jung Yunho was right about that. High cheekbones, large dark green eyes, and that mouth. Definitely a beauty.

He swam closer, hands reaching up on the sand, and Micky’s first instinct was to jerk away, but cool fingers closed around his ankle and he was pulled toward the water.

Micky let him, but shook his head and said, “I can’t swim.”

The creature tilted his head, so Micky mimed swimming and then shook his head.

The most beautiful smile covered his face for a moment. Micky caught sight of sharp incisors, and then long webbed fingers covered his mouth. Laughter that sounded like tinkling rain on a tin roof echoed around him. He pulled harder and Micky slipped off the sand and into the tank. Strong arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly. They lowered and Micky shut his eyes and inhaled deeply just before his head went underwater.

The creature propelled them through the water.

Micky held on and cursed himself for trusting this creature and not thinking that he’d hurt him and oh my god he was in water again and it was all around him and—

His head broke free and Micky gasped, arms holding the merman tightly. Webbed hands ran up and down his back, and Micky relaxed. Until a rough, scaly something wrapped up and around his waist.

Micky jerked back, hands pushing his shoulders, and the merman let him go and Micky’s head dunked under, and he kicked up and rose to the surface, spluttering and wiping salt water from his eyes again.

The creature reached for him and Micky shook his head, turning. He propelled himself to the closest metal walkway and hauled himself out of the water. The metal prongs dug into his back, grounding him, shocking him back to reality.

But when he looked at the water, that beautiful face was still there, frowning at him.

Micky had a sudden need to reassure the creature and he held his hand out, fingers trailing over the water.

Cautiously, the merman moved over to him, and Micky watched the long tail propel him forward in only two short sweeps. Amazing.

Pale green fingers slid up his arm, gripped his elbow and pulled again. Micky shook his head and tried to show him that he was sorry. But it didn’t work, and that face fell, showing what could only be disappointment and with a twist and a flick of his tail, the merman was gone.

Micky stared at the ceiling and said, “Fucking hell,” before pulling himself up on shaking legs. He walked to where he’d left his sweats. He shucked off his sodden boxers and pulled on the sweat pants. Still shaking, he made his way back to the main room. He slipped into a shower long enough to rinse the salt off him, and then raided Yunho’s liquor cabinet and drank scotch while staring at the water.

The creature, once again, stayed out of sight, and left only Changmin the Crab for Micky to stare at.

Micky was still half drunk the next morning when Jung Yunho called him again.

“So,” Yunho said as an opening. An offering for Micky to start the conversation.

“Beauty, you said. Fitting. Everything here is beautiful.”

“Are you drunk?”

“A little. More like hung over.” Micky felt the disapproval through the phone. “Calm down, it’s just I’m coping. I’ll be fine after coffee, and a probably another really strong drink.”

Something flitted in his line of vision, and Micky turned his head, caught a glimpse of the beauty’s shimmering tail and inhaled sharply.

“What is his name?” Micky whispered into the phone.

Yunho chuckled. “Hero.”

“So beautiful.”

“When did you first see him?”

“Yesterday. I saw bare feet in the tank and thought someone had broken in, so I went to investigate and jumped in and instead of finding an intruder, he found me.”

Yunho said nothing.

“He doesn’t understand English?”

“No. He understands your tone of voice and your facial expressions.”

Hero swam into his vision again, just a little, head poking from behind a reef for a moment before spinning off in the opposite direction.

Micky chuckled. “He keeps swimming in and out of my sight.”

“Just means he’s willing to get to know you. It’s okay if you swim with him.”

Micky shuddered. “Yeah, no thanks. I hate water.”

“And yet you dove into the tank just yesterday.”

“That was when I thought there was an intruder in the house.”

“Changmin had his doubts about you, but I’m glad I hired you anyway, Micky. You’re proving to be more than I expected. I told you before that sometimes my beauty gets lonely. I’m away from him too much, and it’ll be good for him to interact with someone besides Changmin and me. Please don’t neglect him.”

“I won’t. I don’t think I could now anyway.”

Yunho chuckled.

“And Yunho-shi. I’m so glad you don’t have a shark.”

Yunho outright laughed, and then in a different tone of voice, he asked, “And what do I have, Micky?”

After a moment, Micky said, “I saw nothing of interest while I was cleaning your house.”

“Good. Good.” The line went dead. Micky forced himself out of bed and staggered to the bathroom to get a shower and sober up for the day.

*** < OS<

Hero teased him for the next couple of days, flitting in and out sight. Micky didn’t mind. Even just a glimpse of Hero was breathtaking. It also proved that Hero had definitely been hiding from him for the first month.

When Micky carried the usual bucket of food up the stairs to the feeding platform, he was a little surprised to see Hero waiting for him.

“Hi,” Micky said and waved.

Hero bit his lower lip, but waved back and smiled shyly. Micky thought only for a moment of dumping the food and leaving, but changed his mind. He rolled his pant-legs up and sat on the platform with his feet in the water.

Hero swam over to him cautiously.

Micky lifted a leg just before Hero reached him. He didn’t flinch or try to move away when webbed fingers wrapped around his ankle.

Hero did not try to pull him into the water, but used his leg to pull himself closer. Micky held his breath as the beautiful creature ended up between his legs. He laid his hands on the platform on either side of Micky’s hips and hoisted himself up and just stayed there, tail half in the water. Drops of water fell from his skin and his hair and stuck Micky’s shirt to his body.

Micky licked his lips and looked down Hero’s body. His pale skin was smooth even with every inch of muscle on display. At his waist, the skin darkened, right about where a belly button should have been. Patches of scales riddled his skin, before flowing seamlessly into his tail. Micky wondered what it felt like and barely noticed when his hands reached out to touch him. Scaly yes, but not slimy or wet. It felt like a snake, complete with muscles undulating under his fingers.

Dazed, Micky lifted his head and met the beauty’s eyes.

The merman made a noise and pushed up and away. Micky ducked away from the tail, and water splashed around him and he ended up soaked. With a curse, he peeled off his sodden shirt, and then stood up. He could see Hero through the rippling water, and sighing, Micky sat back down and lowered himself in the warm water.

Hero was there in an instant, chattering happily, splashing like a little kid. His arms wrapped around Micky’s body and Hero pulled him away from the safety of the ledge. Trying not to panic, Micky let himself be led through the water.

This tank was one in a bedroom, and only about eight feet deep. Micky wasn’t nearly as terrified and didn’t mind when Hero let him go to swim around him and under him. Micky smiled at his antics and floated on his back. Hands slid up and over his waist from underneath and, instead of floating on water, Micky found himself floating on Hero. He leaned his head back against Hero’s strong chest and enjoyed the secure feeling of being held. Even if it was by some mythical sea creature. In water.

Hero’s tail lifted from the water and twisted with Micky’s feet. He said something that sounded like a cautious warning, and Micky didn’t need to know what he said to understand. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Hero’s arms tightened around him, and then he was underwater again and surging through the tank. Micky was not surprised when they ended up back at the beach room. But he was surprised when Hero crawled from the water with two legs and lay next to him.

“Damn,” Micky whispered.

Hero smiled at him, biting his lip, unsure, and Micky smiled in return before twisting and sitting next to Hero’s body. He ran his hand from knee to ankle. Scales still littered his legs, like obscure, uneven polka dots, but the skin was just as soft and smooth as the rest of it. Hero twisted on the sand and laughed when Micky touched behind his knee.

Micky’s smile fell, eyes lifting and pausing at the flaccid penis lying against Hero’s thigh. Even soft, the thing was massive. He wondered how old Hero was, where he was from, if he had a mermaid who missed him, and how long Jung Yunho had him, and who found him to begin with, and if Hero even had a home to go home to.

Micky licked his lips unconsciously, and he didn’t realize his hand was sliding up Hero’s thigh, until the creature whimpered in … not pain, but not anything good either. He twisted, shot Micky a wounded look and then was back in the water, turquoise tail flipping water at him.

“Fuck,” Micky whispered.

After a few minutes of cursing himself, and Hero did not return, Micky slipped into the water and carefully ducked under the metal edge and into the main part of the tank. He kept his head above water and swam to the closet catwalk. He walked around the maze of metal to where he’d left the bucket of food. He dumped it into the water and then pulled off his wet clothes and walked naked back to his room.


	3. Rude Awakening

Micky didn’t see Hero for almost two weeks even though he spent an unusual amount of time sitting on the platforms, feet in the water. He hadn’t meant to be a pervert, but everything about Hero fascinated him, and he hadn’t meant to scare him off. He tried to think of different ways to get Hero’s attention (the most annoying would be to thunk a tennis ball off the glass) but Micky knew that if Hero didn’t want to be seen, then Hero would not be seen.

When Yunho called, Micky was almost desperate. Being alone never fazed him, but now, knowing what he was missing as a companion, he wanted to fix it.

“I upset him. And … I don’t know how to apologize,” Micky said as a hello.

Jung Yunho stayed quiet before saying with barely constrained anger, “Dare I ask what you did to upset him?”

Micky panicked, and knew he could not lie. “He showed me his body and I may have touched him. Well, not touched _him_ but if he hadn’t practically ran away, I would have, and I … I didn’t meant to scare him or anything, he just …”

“Hero was abused by the man who I acquired him from. I’m not surprised that he’s run away from you. You didn’t touch him?”

“No, just his leg, but I wasn’t thinking and I probably would have. He’s intoxicating, Jung Yunho-shi.”

“Yes, he is. But don’t worry, I’ll take care of it and have something sent to appease him. Consider this a mark upon your work, Micky. A very bad, but a not-yet-life-threatening mark.”

Yunho ended the call, and Micky inhaled deeply.

Micky spent the night sitting at the foot of the bed in the master bedroom staring at the darkened water. This tank was the second largest, after the one in the main room. He’d hoped he’d catch a glimpse of Hero, but the merman stayed out of sight.

Changmin the Crab kept him company.

Just before dawn, Micky was startled alert by the doorbell. Micky blinked awake, and rose on stiff legs. He made his way out of the room and felt someone watching him, but when he turned around, the tank was empty.

The man at the door seemed a bit confused on why he was delivering three dozen roses, two bags of rose petals, and various other flowers so early in the morning. Micky signed for them, and after the man had left, read the note from Yunho.

_My beauty loves flowers. They add a fresh scent to his water. Don’t do anything that will require me to buy more after you have left._

A foreign feeling of longing tightened Micky’s chest. **_after you have left_**. It sounded very ominous.

The thorns had been removed on the roses, and the flowers and petals came in all shades of colors. Micky wasn’t sure what to do with them, since they’d die in salt water and he’d be cleaning them out of the filters for days. But to see Hero again, it was worth it.

He hauled the bags of petals up the stairs first, found two central locations where they’d be carried by the currents in the water and dumped them out. They fluttered out and around, causing small ripples in the water. Micky waited a few minutes after dumping the first bag, but Hero did not show himself. He dumped the second bag, and then went back downstairs to wait for Hero’s breakfast.

Micky spent the next two days leaving flowers around the tank. Like the food, the flowers disappeared without giving Micky a glance at the receiver. He spent his nights sitting at the foot of the master bed, waiting and watching.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep that made Micky think he was dreaming when Hero finally showed himself, floating next to the glass wall across from him.

Micky stood up on shaky legs and staggered to the dark tank. The dim lights turned everything bluish green, and Micky put his hand on the glass, uncaring of the marks, not blinking, afraid that if he did, Hero would flit away from him again.

Hero watched, arms crossed, pouting.

“I’m sorry,” Micky whispered. The words caught in his throat, and he shut his eyes at the tightness in his chest. He leaned his forehead on the glass, breath fogging it over.

There was a thunk from the other side that Micky felt through the glass, and his eyes flew open. Hero flicked the glass again, and Micky took it for the reprimand it was and smiled and bowed his head.

Hero swam away, but not quickly, and Micky followed him, eyes never leaving him. Hero led him to the stairs, and Micky was quick to climb them, shucking his shirt as he went. He barely paused at the platform to take off his sweats, and Hero broke the surface of the water just as Micky sat to slip into it. He was there a moment later, arms around Micky’s waist, holding him as they spun slowly.

“I’m sorry,” Micky said to him this time, even if Hero didn’t understand. He said it over and over, arms around his neck tightly.

Micky had never cared about someone more than he did himself. Except his mother of course, but after she died, there was no one in his life. Maybe that was why he latched on to this merman so quickly. Maybe it was because Hero was all alone too.

Micky barely cared that he was in water, water so deep that he couldn’t reach the bottom of the tank. He trusted Hero to keep him afloat and he relaxed in the merman’s strong arms.

Micky had no idea how long they floated, and then Hero pulled away, and Micky clung to his arm, but Hero smiled in reassurance, and only used one arm to reach for a flower floating near them. He picked it up and put the wilted plant over Micky’s head. He laughed, and the tinkling sound echoed around them. Micky smiled and touched it. Petals floated around them and he scooped up a few. He tossed them at Hero’s face.

Hero laughed again and gripped Micky tightly. His strong tail propelled them in a tight circle, and Micky clung to him through the ride.

Hero lowered them in the water and Micky shut his eyes and inhaled just before they went under. Hero swam them back across the tanks, giving Micky a chance to breathe. Again, Micky found himself in the sandy beach room, lying on his back. Hero lay next to him, wet hair splayed out over Micky’s chest. Micky inhaled deeply, arm wrapping around Hero’s shoulders. He watched the ceiling, and then realized that the darkness covered with faint dots of light wasn’t the ceiling, but the real sky, and that this section of the room had a glass ceiling.

Micky wondered what it was like to live in a glass cage, and he wondered if Hero knew that he could escape on his feet. But where would he go? How long could he be a man to escape?

This mansion was nowhere near a body of salt water.

Perhaps Hero knew that. Perhaps Hero liked living with Jung Yunho, especially if the man who had him before treated him so poorly.

Micky jerked in surprise when legs wrapped with his, and their bodies touched, skin to skin, chest to thigh. Hero’s chest rose and fell in a comfortable sigh, and Micky shut his eyes, leveled his breathing and did his best to keep his body under control. Hero didn’t have or need clothes. It wasn’t a come on or an invitation. It was just someone who needed comfort and contact. And if Micky was honest with himself, he needed those things too.

*** < OS<

Jung Yunho did not call in two weeks like Micky had expected. The crime boss didn’t contact him for a whole month.

Micky spent that month happier than he’d ever been. He and Hero played in the water together; they lay on the sand with their legs intertwined and fingers clasped together. Hero babbled in his language and Micky did the same, neither caring that they didn’t understand the words.

One morning, after fetching Hero’s breakfast, Micky felt that something was amiss. He hadn’t been out of the crime loop for so long that he didn’t trust his instincts. He rat-tat-tat-ed on the glass tank to get Hero’s attention, but Hero did not appear.

Cautious and with a growing fear, Micky went on a search for him. And found him, smiling and twisting and spinning for another man. Jealousy coursed through Micky quickly and painfully and he cleared his throat.

When Jung Yunho turned around, Micky’s mouth opened in shock. He wasn’t expecting Yunho back for another month, at least.

Jung Yunho was tall and strong. Micky had no idea how old he was, but he looked to be in his forties. The hair at his temples was going gray, and he had shallow wrinkles at his eyes. A deep scar cut down the side of his face and into his neck, marring an otherwise handsome face. He was wearing a well-cut designer suit and loafers.

“Ah, Micky. I see that Hero is in pristine health. Thank you so much.”

Micky swallowed. “M-my pleasure.”

“You can pack your things and get out of here. I’m sure you’re anxious to sleep in your own bed tonight.”

Micky thought of the last few weeks of the best sleep he’d ever gotten curled up with Hero on the sand. “Yeah. That—“

“I know I can trust your silence, but is there anything else you need to insure it?”

Yunho expected him to ask for more money.

Micky looked at Hero, and Hero frowned, probably sensing Micky’s mood.

Micky shook his head. “No, Jung Yunho-shi. I’ve earned more than enough.” And he knew he wasn’t talking about money.

“Good. Good. My driver will take you as soon as you’re ready to go.”

Micky nodded and turned around and headed for his room. The suitcase that had been buried in a closet was retrieved. Micky kept his back to the section of aquarium while he packed.

Two rapid thunks had him turning around.

Hero was floating, head tilted, frowning. He put his hands on the glass and opened his mouth, probably saying something. It seemed he knew what it meant when someone was packing a suitcase.

Micky shook his head and tried to go back to packing.

Hero knocked again, harder.

Micky turned and crossed his arms, and Hero frowned, hands still on the glass. Micky sighed and walked over to the glass and put his hands where Hero’s were, and then Hero put his forehead to the glass, and Micky mirrored him.

“I have to go,” Micky whispered, and when he blinked, tears fell and he couldn’t remember the last time he cried.

Hero slammed his fist to the glass suddenly and whipped his tail and swam away.

Micky sighed and kept packing. It didn’t take him long. He’d been told before he arrived that everything would be provided for him. He pulled the handle up on the suitcase and headed for the front door. He didn’t want to look at the water, but it was everywhere.

“Micky!”

He stopped in the entry way and turned around.

Jung Yunho stalked across the room to him. “Here.” He held out his hand. In it was a single, spiral shell. Oranges and reds entwined through its pattern. “From Hero. You must have really made an impression on him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so sad.”

Micky’s gaze flicked to the tank as something moved, but it was only Changmin the Crab. Micky swallowed and took the gift. “Thank you. It’s been interesting.”

“I’ll contact you if I ever need to fly to another country again for who knows how long.”

“I’d like that.”

Jung Yunho nodded and turned around, dismissing him.

Micky stared at the water until Changmin the Crab crawled out of sight.

He turned his back and left the mansion.


	4. Sleep Walking

Micky wished he had insomnia. Walking around feeling half dead would have been better than the dreams he had of Hero’s arms around him, of his laughter and smiles and water. So many dreams about water.

Micky bought a fish. And cleaned its tank every day after it pooped.

Micky took the fish back, but kept the tank. He covered the bottom with black rocks and settled the seashell Hero had given him in the middle of it. He filled it with tap water and covered the surface with pink rose petals. Color in his otherwise dark apartment. Dark life.

He stared at the empty tank and wondered if Hero missed him as much as he missed Hero.

One night, after a particularly erotic dream, Micky sketched out a sensual form complete with muscles and a tail. He added hints of green and blue, and made the image appear to be half turned, face hidden behind scraggly green hair. A week later, he went to a tattoo artist and had it etched into his skin permanently. It wasn’t a large tattoo, about the size of a hand with fingers spread. Micky had it done on waist, just above his hipbone.

Contemplating his bank account, Micky knew that he could comfortably live off what Yunho had paid him. He changed his cell phone number, and managed to integrate a message around his usual contacts that he was no longer available for hire. Part of him wondered if his secrets were still safe or if someone would secure his silence with a well aimed bullet.

Micky wasn’t sure; he wasn’t naturally paranoid, but just in case, he moved, used one of his aliases and did his best to disappear.

In his new apartment, the ten gallon tank was replaced with a fifteen gallon tank and Micky bought a hermit crab and watched it crawl along the bottom. It didn’t take long for the crab to shed its shell and make the spiral shell its new home.

Micky was too old to go back to school and he was too old for a “college kid’s” job. But Song YooHyun wasn’t. The joy of looking young was that he could pass for a twenty-three year old pretty easily.

Song YooHyun found a job making coffee for arrogant, pedantic graduate students, and decided to take a couple of science courses at the local university.

Song YooHyun met Kim Junsu in class; they bonded over a love of sea creatures, and Micky fell in love with his smile and his laughter. Junsu thought it was slightly creepy that YooHyun had a pet crab and stared at him for a long time when he couldn’t explain why its name was Little Changmin. But they dated anyway, for almost eight months. There was no way that Micky would tell anyone who he really was after such a short time, but Junsu didn’t like his silence or his brooding or his random nightmares. He was a trooper and dealt with him for a while. They broke up after the school year ended.

And Micky’s heart didn’t hurt nearly as badly as it did when he walked away from Hero.

*** < OS<

“You’re a hard man to track down when you want to disappear, Micky,” a condescending voice said on the other end of his phone.

Micky held his breath, trying to place the voice. He knew he’d heard it before. He mentally catalogued his things and wondered how fast he could disappear again, if need be. He had another alias, another set of documents.

“My employer is going to Japan on a semi-permanent basis and wishes for you to watch his home.”

It felt like the floor tilted out from under Micky and he was lucky that he fell on his couch and not on the hardwood floor.

“He intends to pay you for your silence, of course,” Changmin said sarcastically, “but you have to talk to me so we can set up a time to meet.”

Micky finally found his voice and laughed. “Fine, fine. You know I won’t say no.”

“I will meet you at the location in a week.”

“I’ll be there.”

Song YooHyun quit his job, broke his lease, packed his bags and his pet crab named Little Changmin, and found himself back in a place that haunted his dreams. He let Changmin take his fish tank, and he stared in awe at the beautiful clear waters of the aquarium.

One year. It’d been one year since he’d first been here.

“Jung Yunho has to go to Japan and he isn’t sure how long he’s going to be gone, unlike last time. He was hoping you’d be willing to live here permanently, even when he comes back.”

Micky swallowed and nodded, not looking away from the waters. “Th-that’s fine.”

Micky moved slowly through the house, eyes open, blinking only when he had too. The first movement he saw was Changmin the Crab, and Micky laughed, leaned against the glass and watched him crawl along the bottom for a moment.

Lightly, he tapped out the beat that he and Hero had used during his first stay.

The water twisted and in only seconds, the beautiful creature in his dreams was there, in front of him. Micky smiled, hands and forehead against the glass.

Hero’s mouth opened in shock, eyes wide. He slammed his hands on the glass and then swam away. Micky laughed and followed him, discarding his shoes and his shirt on the way to the stairs and the platforms. At the top, he shimmied out of his jeans, and dove into the water. Before he managed to panic or remember that he was supposed to be afraid of water, strong arms wrapped around him and they were streaking through the water.

Micky’s head went light from the lack of oxygen, but he didn’t panic, trusting Hero implicitly. He clung to him until his head broke the surface, and then barely had time to register more movement as Hero hauled him onto the sand. Hero hugged him, chattering in his language, laughing and pressing kisses to Micky’s cheek and neck.

Micky wrapped his arms around Hero’s strong shoulders and their legs entwined.

“I missed you,” Micky whispered. “I missed you so much.”

Hero propped up on his arms and bit his lower lip and yet still smiled widely.

Micky grinned back and then said, “Oh!” and rolled on his back to show Hero his tattoo.

Cool, webbed fingers traced the picture. And then warm lips kissed the middle. Micky inhaled, but did not protest. He never would protest any attention from Hero, even if it was new and unexpected.

Suddenly, Hero’s head shot up and he slipped back into the water, tail fin splashing water over him.

Micky sighed and leaned back on the warm sand. Part of him still felt like he was dreaming.

Cold fingers closed around his ankle and pulled him toward the water. Micky didn’t even look at Hero, but smiled and inhaled deeply before being drawn back under and swam to a platform to where Jung Yunho was waiting for him. His arms were crossed over a strong chest, and he was scowling. Hero held Micky tightly, almost protectively until Yunho relaxed and said, “Well, that didn’t take you long.”

Micky shrugged. “Would you believe me if I told you he pulled me in?”

“Maybe if you weren’t mostly naked. Come on. I have a few instructions to leave for you before I have to catch my plane.”

Micky reached for the railing, and Hero’s hands did not leave his body until they had to. Yunho handed him a robe. Micky wrapped it around himself and followed Yunho to the kitchen. The merman, looking irritated at having his toy taken away, followed them by way of the tunnels.

Changmin was there with a cup of tea for Micky. Micky thanked him and sat at the table with Yunho.

“I’m going to be upfront with you, Micky. I might not be coming back from Japan.”

Micky choked on his tea.

“I’m losing my edge, and I’ve received more than one death threat. I’m going to Japan under the guise of strengthening my ties with Johnny E, but I’m probably walking into a trap.”

“Then why go?”

“I have to.”

“Oh.”

“The three of us are the only ones alive who know about Hero. I plan to keep it that way. I have drawn up papers that should anything happen to me, this property and anything tied to it will automatically belong to you. This property is clean, and not very many people know that I own it. I have a few substantial accounts that are already being transferred into your name. Sign here.”

“You might want to ask him first,” Changmin muttered.

“With the way he was hanging onto Hero, I doubt I need to.”

Micky took the pen and signed his real name. His real name that was in the documents, and he wondered how Yunho found it.

Yunho handed the papers to Changmin and Changmin put them into his briefcase. “If I am killed, it’ll probably be covered up. My lawyer, Cho Kyuhyun, will come to you and give you that briefcase, and tell you that I was killed. I might have to disappear. If that happens, he is going to tell you that my body was found on a yacht off the coast of China.”

“What if your body is found on a yacht off the coast of China?”

Yunho smirked. “Then well … it won’t matter. As much as I love him, I won’t be able to come back here, and I’ll need you to take care of Hero.”

Micky nodded, eyes finding Hero who was floating above the kitchen in one of the tunnels. “Of course.”

“Good. He missed you so much. I had no idea how close you two had become. Hero didn’t smile for weeks after you left, so I knew you were important to him. I didn’t realize how important he was to you until I saw your tattoo.”

“Yeah. Life … I tried it out, but it didn’t work.”

Yunho smiled. “I know you’ll take care of him. Do you have any other questions?”

“How old is he?”

“I don’t know. The man who had him before me had him for at least ten years; I’ve owned him for almost twenty. I don’t know about any of his previous owners, because I didn’t get a chance to ask. That man was a dick and deserved the bullet in his brain.”

“How long can Hero survive in his human form?”

Yunho tilted his head and then shrugged. “He’s never far from water, and he never goes on the platforms, so I don’t think he can for long. I can’t tell if it’s a personal choice that he’s put on himself because of his last owner, or if it’s a physical limitation. The problem with having a mythical creature is that there isn’t any scientific data on them.”

Micky smirked. “I can imagine. Does he ever get sick?”

“No, not really. He’s smart enough not to eat fish that are contaminated, and the only time I’ve seen him throw up is when I tried to give him chocolate. Don’t give him chocolate. He likes fruit though.”

“Okay.”

“Fuck, I’m going to miss him.” Yunho looked up at Hero and smiled. “Changmin will give you more detailed instructions. I’m going to go say goodbye to my beauty.”

Yunho stood up and walked out of the kitchen, trailing his fingers on the bottom of the tunnel. Hero followed him.

Micky watched them until they were out of sight, and then turned to Changmin. “So now what?”

*** < OS<

Yunho and Changmin left late at night. Hero’s face had that same look of anguish that was there when Micky had left. Once the door shut behind them, he hung his head with his hands pressed to the glass.

Yunho said that Hero didn’t understand his words, but understood what he meant when he said goodbye earlier.

Micky believed him, but didn’t know what to do to take the heartache away. He went to the glass and pressed his forehead to it.

Hero trailed his hand over the glass and swam down the hall. Micky followed him, knowing where he was going. He had nothing else to do, and realized that Yunho had set him up for a life of swimming with Hero. A private company kept the grounds surrounding the mansion in pristine shape. Watered the lawns, cut it, weeded the gardens. The food would continue to be delivered. All Micky had to do was clean the house and the tank and take care of Hero.

Not that he minded that one bit.

He climbed the stairs and put his feet in the water. He’d only thrown on a shirt while Changmin had showed him around the house and explained more of the maintenance that went into the aquarium. He peeled the shirt off and slid into the water. Hero surfaced and Micky twisted into his embrace. He wondered if the merman could cry.

They floated together for a long time, and then Hero took Micky to the beach and they curled up on the sand together and slept under the glass-covered stars.


	5. Pillow Talk

“Mi-cky,” he said, pointing to his chest. “Micky.”

Hero tried to say it again. “Mi-Mee.”

Micky discovered that there are no harsh sounds in Hero’s languages. No “K” or “J” and only something that could have been a “B” noise. No “S” or “Z” or “T” or “P”. It was like his was a language of vowels and breaths. It was easy to teach him how to pronounce the “M” sound. He didn’t have any problems pronouncing “Hero” or understanding that was his name. Although he said his name was something that sounded liked “Youeeroueouwowee” or something like that. Micky had no idea, and when he tried to pronounce it, Hero made a face and said, “Hero” and nodded.

Micky tried again. “Mi-cky.”

Hero said, “Mi-yee.”

And Micky decided that was good enough. He leaned back on his hands and smiled. The sun was out, burning through the glass. One of the things Changmin had shown him before they left was a series of controls that opened panels in the ceiling and let fresh air blow through. All the glass panels were open, and it almost felt like they were lying on a beach by the ocean.

Hero said, “Mi-yee,” again, and Micky shook his head, but laughed. He held out his hand and Hero crawled over to him, easily finding his spot against Micky’s side. They’d discovered that in human form, they were the same height, and in mer-form, Hero’s tail was about three feet longer.

Micky had yet to see the change, but sometimes he felt it against his legs. It was so quick and almost unconscious on Hero’s part that when he lifted his head to look, it was already done. Rarely, Hero walked to the wooden dresser by the hammock and applied a salve to his legs. He pantomimed something about the sand giving him rashes. Micky figured that it was the type of sand. Since it wasn’t actually on the beach, it was different and irritated his skin. A few days before, Micky had taken the bottle from Hero’s hands, pushed him into the hammock and massaged his feet and legs.

Hero had practically purred in contentment.

They were getting closer and every day it got harder and harder for Micky to control himself.

Hero hadn’t kissed him since his first day back, unfortunately, so Micky didn’t know anymore if his advances would be appreciated or if he’d scare Hero off again. Fortunately, the bathrooms in the mansion weren’t visible through the aquarium, so he had plenty of places to jerk off.

“Mi-yee,” Hero said again. His webbed fingers trailed up Micky’s chest.

Micky shut his eyes and relaxed under the soft touches.

Maybe his advances would be welcome, but Hero had no idea how to vocalize that or how to show Micky that he wanted them.

Micky didn’t know the nature of Yunho’s relationship with Hero. He doubted it was platonic, because who could resist Hero’s beauty? But then again, Yunho could be straight. Or he could have been in a relationship with Changmin? Or he could have seen Hero as nothing more than a pet?

And if their relationship had been strictly friendly, then besides the man who owned him so long ago, Hero wouldn’t know what to do, or what to say, or even if it was possible to have a relationship and not just something to possess.

Micky wondered if it was worth it to find out.

Shaking, he lifted his hand and ran his fingers through Hero’s hair. When it dried, it felt like sticky blades of grass. It was still wet, though, since they hadn’t been out of the water long. Hero squirmed and tried to snuggle deeper into his chest. Micky took that as a good sign and continued playing with his hair. He moved it little by little until his fingertips were touching his neck instead.

Hero froze for a moment and then relaxed, and Micky decided that he did not want to piss Hero off, so he kept his hand there and didn’t try for more.

A few minutes later, and Micky was too hot with a body next to him and from the sun. He shifted, and then gently pushed Hero away. The beautiful merman was half asleep and Micky knew that wasn’t good for his tail to be in the sun for so long.

“Water,” Micky said and pointed.

Hero frowned, looked up at the sky and nodded. He pushed up with his arms, muscles flexing, and then arched his back, stretching. Micky licked his lips, and Hero tilted his head, and Micky silently cursed himself, but smiled and shooed Hero toward the water.

Hero smiled back and shimmied down the sand. He kept his arms on the ledge, upper body supported and stared at Micky with tired eyes. Micky was tired too, but he had cleaning to do. Part of him thought of Hero as a big fish, swimming around in his own filth and that of his food. But that part of him had to shut up, or else he’d never swim with Hero again. He had to remind himself over and over that they had top of the line filters in this place.

Maybe he was a tiny, itty, bitty bit OCD.

Hero pouted at him and tugged on his leg, and Micky chuckled and let himself be pulled into the water. They floated for a moment before Hero took them under and out and to a place where Micky could climb out. But he didn’t want to leave and he clung to Hero for a little longer, face pressed into his neck for a few more seconds. Hero rubbed his back.

With a deep breath, Micky pulled his face away and smiled at the slightly confused look on Hero’s face. Micky touched his cheek softly and opened his mouth, but said nothing. Hero did though, a question, and Micky smiled again, shaking his head. He tried to reach for the platform, but Hero tightened his hold and swam them to the middle of the tank. He said the same thing, more like he demanded it and Micky pondered him.

Hero squeezed him and then actually huffed in frustration.

Micky didn’t know what to do or what he wanted, and they stared at each other. Hero bit his lower lip and looked down, eyes sad, and Micky was quick to cup his cheek, lift his face and offer him a little smile. Hero’s tongue swiped along his lower lip, and Micky watched it, fascinated and confused. Hero leaned his cheek into Micky’s hand and then turned his head and pressed a kiss to the fleshy part of his palm.

Micky inhaled sharply and held his breath.

Hero’s lips peeled away from his hand only when he turned his head and their eyes met again, and Micky wasn’t sure if it was an invitation or just a kiss on his hand. He didn’t care. He lifted his other hand to Hero’s other cheek.

Hero’s arms tightened around his waist and they both leaned forward. Micky’s eyes shut just as their lips brushed. Hero gasped, but didn’t move, and Micky pressed their lips together.

Hero shuddered and tightened his hold again. Whimpering, Micky tried to find legs to wrap with his, and slid his calf along Hero’s tail. It lifted, wrapping around his lower body, and Micky lifted his legs and hooked his ankles at the top of his tail. The scales shifted, muscles undulating, and then Micky was slammed against the glass wall, Hero pressed against him completely. He moaned, opening his mouth for a saltwater kiss. His hands tangled in Hero’s wet hair.

Their tongues touched and Micky went lax, letting Hero do the exploring. His body was too tense, unable to think about anything beyond the strength and power holding and protecting him.

Hero’s kiss was insistent, but softened after a moment, enough for Micky to make an attempt to kiss him back.

Their lips parted and they both inhaled, sharing breaths between brushes of lips, touches of tongue.

Micky tilted his head back on the glass, and Hero kissed his chin and his cheeks until Micky laughed and tilted his head down to capture those lips again.

They kissed until Micky felt waterlogged, and time slipped away from them, and he had to hurry through his cleaning to get back to where their lips could meet again.

They kissed until Micky’s stomach grumbled, reminding him he had to leave the water in order to eat something, and even then, Hero stayed in the tunnels around the kitchen, and spun around, urging Micky faster.

They kissed until the stars twinkled through the glass, and Micky couldn’t keep his eyes open, but didn’t protest at all as the last thing he remembered was the feel of lips on his neck.

*** < OS<

Two weeks later, Micky wasn’t any less sexually frustrated, but he was less patient. Hero’s hands and tail had a tendency to explore his body, so Micky knew that Hero would want more eventually. Micky didn’t think he could survive without getting SOMETHING more.

So he devised a plan on the day that he had to clean the beach room. Bags and bags of rose petals were strewn all over the sand. He ordered orchids and lilies, and organized them in a way that they arched over the spot where they normally slept. He also ordered an excess of fruits platters with strawberries and pineapples and melons.

A few other essential products were put in the dresser, just in case.

Micky wasn’t anywhere near the area when it was full of water again, and open for Hero to go into. He was in the main lobby, cleaning the layer of dust that refused to stay away.

A loud knock sounded behind him, and Micky ignored it, smiling slightly. It came again and again, rapid and annoyed, until Micky finally turned around, laughing.

Hero floated, glaring and arms crossed.

“What?” Micky asked and held out his hands in question.

Hero huffed and pointed to the right.

Micky motioned around the room and then pointed to the sweeper in his hands.

Hero’s eyes narrowed and he pointed to the right again, jabbing at the water.

With one more laugh, Micky said, “Fine,” and headed to the stairways. He had spent his morning with Hero in the water, and hadn’t done more than throw on sweatpants to clean. The nice thing about always being in the water is that he didn’t ever have to get dressed.

Not that his clothes mattered in this particular instance. As soon as he was on the platform and within reach, Hero yanked him into the tank.

Micky surfaced, sputtering water and wiping his face. He’d grown used to always being in the water, but he still hated it when he was dunked under without warning. He had just enough time to glare at Hero, and then he was wrapped in strong arms, pulled under and sped through the tanks.

Micky managed to catch his breath only after being hoisted onto the petal-covered sand and left there, while Hero walked up the beach. He tilted his head back, and watched the beautiful man crouch down at the bottom drawer, retrieve something and then stand back up. He looked at the thing in his hands, and then glanced over at Micky.

Micky got the hint, and stood up. His sweats were soaked, and he unabashedly stripped them off and left them in a soaking pile.

It wasn’t the first time Hero had seen him naked, but it was the first time that Micky actually felt naked. Hero stood there and appraised him, eyes sweeping over his body, and Micky staggered a bit, self-conscious. He wasn’t nearly as muscular as Hero was, but he’d gotten more toned since he spent a lot of time swimming.

And then Hero bit his lip, almost like he was unsure, and looked back at his hands. Micky walked up beside him and saw a picture of Yunho and Hero, wrapped up in the hammock together, obviously naked. It’d been taken long before Yunho’s hair had gone gray.

Hero held it out to him, and then fell into the hammock. It swayed under his weight.

Micky stared at the picture for a little longer, and then shook his head. He had no idea if Hero understood that Yunho wasn’t coming back. And Micky wasn’t really sure he wanted to be a replacement, he wasn’t sure if Hero needed a replacement. Is that why Hero was so reluctant to do anything else?

He set the picture down on top of the dresser and stood next to Hero.

Hero held out a webbed hand and Micky took the invitation and climbed into the hammock with him. He easily found a comfortable spot with his head on Hero’s chest. Hero’s hands wrapped around Micky’s back, holding him tightly. They lay there, swaying for a few long minutes. And then Hero pushed Micky up, and they went back to the water.

Hero slipped into the water, his tail flicking up a second later, and Micky sat on the edge, feet in the water. Hero put his arms around Micky’s waist, face in his stomach and just held him again.

And Micky figured that no matter what he wanted, Hero wasn’t ready yet. He pushed the merman away and slipped into the water with him, holding around his waist. Hero kissed him softly and then ducked them under the wall and swam through the main tank.

He surfaced and made sure Micky had a sturdy grip on the catwalk and then swam off.

Micky sighed.

How frustrated was Hero that they couldn’t communicate? And how frustrated was Hero that Micky couldn’t understand?

Probably just about as frustrated as Micky was.


	6. Peace Offering

Micky slept in his own bed that night. Or at least he lay in it, and stared at the fish tank. Hero swam back and forth, along the length every now and then, but it wasn’t like he was hiding, but more like he was thinking, pacing, unable to sit still. He wondered what Hero was thinking about.

Changmin the Crab moved in and out of Micky’s sight too, almost like he was following Hero, but couldn’t quite move as fast.

His on and off slumber was interrupted by the doorbell and Micky checked the time and groaned. Four am. Who the hell was coming here at four am?

He rolled off the bed and found a pair of sweats and a tank top. Hero appeared on the other side of the glass, frowning.

Micky shrugged. “I don’t know who it is.”

The doorbell rang again as he staggered to the door.

“Hang on. I’m coming,” Micky said. He checked the peephole and pondered the well dressed man on the other side of it. “Who is it?”

“My name is Cho Kyuhyun. I am Yunho’s attorney.”

Micky shut his eyes and sighed. He didn’t want to think about what this meant, for Hero’s sake.

He opened the door.

The man bowed and Micky bowed and allowed him to enter. He trusted Hero to stay out of sight, and led Kyuhyun into the kitchen.

“Coffee?”

“No, thank you. I won’t be here long enough to enjoy it. These early morning announcements are always tiring.”

Micky poured himself a cup of coffee from the automated machine, and then asked, “So what is this about?”

“I am assuming that you are Park Yoochun?”

“Yes.”

“I fear I am the bringer of bad news. Jung Yunho’s body was found on an abandoned yacht off the coast of China.”

Micky took a deep breath of relief. At least he was alive.

Cho Kyuhyun retrieved a few papers from his briefcase. “Jung Yunho has left most of his fortune to you. He has no family or children that anyone is aware of. Probably for their own protection. Not that anyone is aware of this place, and as soon as you sign here, a substantial deposit will be made into my bank account and I don’t have to deal with his drama ever again.”

“What is this doing?” Micky asked as he signed.

“Nothing that Yunho said he didn’t explain to you already. This is just the final signature that you’re agreeing with it.”

Micky leaned back and sipped his coffee.

Kyuhyun reached into his jacket and pulled out a small parcel. “This was given to me and I am to tell you to give it to someone else.”

Micky reached over and accepted the padded envelop.

Kyuhyun piled everything into his briefcase and stood up. “Tomorrow morning you will receive a package that has all of the files pertaining to Jung Yunho. Do with them as you see fit. Have a wonderful life, Park Yoochun-shi.”

Micky thanked him and walked him to the door. As soon as Cho Kyuhyun was gone, Micky opened the packet and dumped a silver necklace into his palm. There was a purple jewel beautifully carved in the shape of a spiral shell.

Micky glanced at the tank, saw Hero watching him, and then headed to the platform. He shucked his clothes, sat with his feet in the water and held out the necklace for Hero.

Hero stared at it, mouth open, eyes wide and unseeing.

It obviously meant something between the two of them, but Micky had no idea what.

Hero moved over to him and gently took the necklace from his hands. He slipped it over his head, the stone settled just below the hollow of his throat.

Micky didn’t know how to explain to him that Yunho wasn’t dead, but that he wasn’t coming back either. He reached out with his foot and Hero nodded, slid closer and let Micky use his shoulders to lower himself into the water.

What would have happened to Hero if he wasn’t there? What if Yunho had gone to Japan and been killed? Would Kyuhyun have been there to take care of Hero? And who was going to take care of him after Micky? It didn’t seem that Hero was growing older. Micky wondered if there would ever been anyone he trusted enough to watch over Hero.

He didn’t want to think about that. He clung to Hero’s neck tightly and sighed, before pressing a kiss just below his ear.

Hero’s chest hitched, and Micky wondered again if Hero could cry.

The merman squeezed him in warning, and Micky took a deep breath before slipping into the water. Hero swam slowly to the beach room, almost like he couldn’t quite muster up the energy to move faster. Micky didn’t mind, since Hero let him breathe a few times. When they arrived, the sun was rising and everything was shadowed with gray. Hero hauled himself up onto the sand and stayed in merman form, flopped on his stomach. Micky lay next to him, running a soothing hand over his strong back.

Hero didn’t move until the sun was too hot, the air thick. By this time, Micky would have already opened the ventilation. Sweat dripped over his skin.

Hero slipped back into the water for a while, and Micky staggered to the hammock to take a nap.

A few hours later, Micky woke up when Hero snuggled next to him in the hammock. The air was cooler under the shade. Their legs twisted and Micky was reminded of the picture on Hero’s dresser.

Micky knew that if he didn’t get up and out of the hammock, his sleep would be all screwed up and he’d be up for half the night. Then lips pressed against his collarbone and Hero’s hand tightened around his waist, slipping under it, fingers tracing the area of his tattoo, and Micky knew that Hero was more important than his sleep could ever be.

*** < OS<

Hero never took the necklace off, and upon closer inspection of the picture, Micky saw that it used to hang around Yunho’s neck.

Micky understood, he did, but there was a wall between them again. Maybe not as stubborn as the one before, but it was still there.

And Micky was stir-crazy. So incredibly stir-crazy.

Micky stood inside the main room and stared at the front door. How long had it been since he’d been outside this house? How many days since he had last felt sunshine that wasn’t filtered through glass?

How many days did Hero spend in his tank? Micky felt guilty for wanting to go outside when Hero would never feel the sun on his skin or the ocean water on his scales.

Hero knocked behind him, and Micky turned around. He went to the glass and pressed his hands to it, and then his forehead. It would always be a symbol to show emotion between them.

He pointed to the door, and said, “I’ll be back.”

Hero’s eye widened and he shook his head, fingers clawing at the glass.

Micky smiled and held up a hand. He motioned to the door again, and then brought his hand toward him, trying to show him that he’d be back.

Hero pouted and crossed his arms. Micky smiled and pressed a kiss to the glass, pulling a reluctant smile from Hero. He touched the glass where Micky’s lips had been and then swam off.

Micky headed out the front door, wincing against the light. There was a Maserati Quattroporte waiting for him in the garage, keys in the ignition. He sat in the driver’s seat and turned the key. The engine purred, and Micky shivered.

Never in his life did he think he’d own a car like this one. Or live in a house like Yunho’s.

Never in his life did he think that merpeople actually existed.

Micky sighed and leaned his head on the steering wheel. He knew he couldn’t stay inside this mansion forever. He’d go insane.

But he also had to remember that he wasn’t alone.

With a sigh, Micky backed the car out of the garage. The road leading up to Yunho’s mansion was full of ornate gates leading to other mansions. What secrets did those gates guard?

It felt strange to be in the city, to walk down streets he hadn’t been on for over a year. He felt like nothing around him had changed, but everything about him had. The credit cards had his real name on them. The bank had his ID information. He was a citizen with a blank slate. Jung Yunho had done what Micky used to do by himself: made him disappear.

Micky lost himself in a crowd at the market. He bought a pair of sunglasses, and then a basket of fruit for Hero. He scoured the market for something else, anything else for Hero. He bought a lot of sparkling crystals, and a few necklaces and shells and even a pair of light, linen pants for Hero to wear if he wanted to. But it wasn’t that special thing. A present, a peace offering. Micky wasn’t sure, but he’d know it when he saw it.

He sipped on a latte made from freshly ground coffee beans grown in Vietnam, and wondered if Hero liked coffee. He’d never thought of it before, having a few glasses of it during the day. He found a bag of lightly roasted, almost nutty smelling, and bought it, just to try it out. At another stall he bought some hard candy in a variety of fruit flavors.

A few stalls down, Micky found what he was looking for. Swaths of cloth hung in bunches; but it was the purple one surrounded by lots of other colors that caught Micky’s eye. It was almost the same shade as the jewel on Hero’s necklace. He bought the entire bolt much to the proprietor’s surprise, and then had too much stuff to carry back to his car. The man offered to hold it for him, and Micky thanked him profusely and hurried to get everything packed up.

It was well into the afternoon when Micky returned, and Hero was floating in the main room, looking almost sad. He brightened immediately and swam in tight circles.

“I told you I’d be back,” Micky said.

He carried everything into the house, trying to hide the presents for Hero. It was even harder to find a way to get the cloth and the fruit into the beach room without getting it wet. Last time, he’d drained the tank and was able to get the fruit and the flowers there easily.

Lucky, there were heavy duty garbage bags in the utility room and Micky used five of those and a lot of duct tape hoping that was enough.

When he arrived at the platform, Hero was there, looking at him in confusion.

Micky grinned and dumped the cartons into the water. He pointed toward the beach room, and even if he was still confused, Hero grabbed the packages and disappeared under the water. Micky stripped and slipped into the warm water. He waited for Hero for a moment and then figured he could just do it himself. With a bit of pep talk, he did the same that he had his first day in the tank, followed the wall and slipped under the edge.

Hero had most of the packages open, and when Micky climbed onto the sand, Hero crossed his arms and glared at him.

Micky fought not to roll his eyes. Didn’t seem he could do anything without being completely judged by the merman.

Micky sat on the other side of the pile and went to the fruit first. He had forgotten to eat lunch while he was out. He peeled a banana, broke off half of it and handed it to Hero. Hero watched him take a bite of it, and then smelled it. He smiled widely and devoured it, and two more of them, before discovering the raspberries and the blueberries, which Micky knew he loved. He’d figured he’d need a knife for the cantaloupe, but Hero just bashed his way through it. The merman did have a habit of ripping through crab and lobster shells. A cantaloupe rind didn’t stand a chance.

Micky shivered, wondering how much power those hands and arms really had.

Hero took a bite of the orange fruit and made a face and shoved it over to Micky.

“Not a fan of cantaloupe, okay.” Micky put it aside.

Hero ate a few more berries, and then grew a little more interested in the rest of the packages. The rocks and crystals were a huge hit, and he was more than a little confused with the pants, but he’d seen Micky wear them enough that he slipped them on, over his long, muscled legs. After only a minute of moving around in them, Hero made a face and shucked them back off. Micky was definitely used to Hero always being naked. Watching him take off clothes had his blood pumping faster than normal.

Hero misunderstood Micky’s sudden clearing of his throat, and he frowned, and then tried to pantomime something to him. It took a second, but Micky understood. Wearing pants was bad when your lower half had a tendency to meld together and change into a fin.

When Hero saw the purple fabric, his eyes shined with happiness and he shot to his feet and scrambled over the sand to the hammock, chattering happily about something or other. Micky watched, heart constricting, as the beautiful merman draped the fabric over the trees, forming a tent around the hammock.

He stuck his head around the fabric and waved his hand, saying, “Mi-yee” over and over.

Micky stood up and walked across the sand, ducking under the makeshift canopy. The temperature dropped almost immediately, and Hero dragged him onto the hammock.


	7. Mutual Passion

Micky laughed as he fell to his back in the hammock. Hero barely gave him time to get comfortable before peppering his face in kisses. Yunho still hung between them, figuratively and literally in the form of a necklace, but Hero didn’t stop kissing him, and Micky relaxed and let him, settling into the curve of the hammock. It swayed under Hero’s movements, and Micky’s mind wandered to proving how sturdy the thing was.

His mind wandered a bit too much with images of being on top of the merman, and Hero suddenly pulled away, holding himself off Micky’s body, eyes on Micky’s sudden erection.

Micky didn’t know what to do, but Hero wasn’t leaving. Hero’s penis was soft, hanging down and laying against the bend in Micky’s hip.

Hero bit his lower lip with a sharp incisor, and Micky realized he was shaking. Not from the effort of holding himself up, but from holding himself back.

Micky held his breath and trailed his hand down his front, fingertips light and quick. His chest hitched at a sensitive spot below his ribs, and then he shut his eyes with a sigh, while playing just below his belly button. His cock twitched, but Micky avoided it, caressing along the bend of his hip, and then going back up to start all over again. The second time, he watched Hero’s face. His eyes followed Micky’s hand and his tongue constantly swiped over his lower lip, keeping it wet and tempting.

Micky wanted to bite it and then wondered what Hero’s sharp teeth would do to his lips if bitten.

He moaned, shut his eyes, and finally gripped his erection.

Hero made a noise, and Micky licked his lips and teased himself with soft strokes up to the ridge and back down. His body didn’t want teasing, he knew that, and he wanted so much more than a hand job. Being watched by Hero while masturbating was more, but so not enough.

The hammock swayed and Hero shifted his weight to one arm and his knees. His other hand mapped out the path Micky had shown him, fingers soft and light over his nipples, across his ribs. Down his stomach.

“Oh fuck,” Micky gasped. He sped up, let his fingers swipe over the head wet with precome. The combination of the attention and the fact that it was Hero ( _finally finally finally_ ) had Micky ready to come in minutes. His stomach caved in, his legs spread, pressing against Hero’s and his balls tightened. He was so close, whimpering because it was so close, too close.

Lips touched his taut neck, hot breath ghosted over to his ear, and Hero whispered something so foreign and yet so dirty into Micky’s ear that he was coming in a second. Everything stopped, and Micky moaned. His cock pulsed and strings of white splattered clear up to his neck.

Energy gone (or at least in sticky clumps all over his chest), Micky sank into the hammock, lungs heaving with the need to breathe.

“Mi-yee,” Hero whispered.

Micky opened his eyes and grinned at the shadowed face of Hero. Without thinking, he reached out and gripped Hero’s hip, thumb rubbing over a patch of scales. Hero inhaled sharply, and Micky tilted his head in question. He shook his head, just once, and Micky moved his hand, and Hero exhaled in frustration.

“Yeah, this is not going to work if you can’t talk to me.” Micky tilted his head back and shut his eyes, body still thrumming from his orgasm.

Shaking lips pressed against his, and Micky smiled into the soft kiss. He lifted his hand and trailed it up Hero’s arm, squeezed his strong shoulder and gripped the back up his neck, under his hair. Hero licked his lips, their lips, and then pulled away, despite Micky’s groan of protest.

Hero smiled and bit his lip. Thinking. With a grin, he held up his hand, fingers spread and then ran fingers from the other hand over the webbing. Micky reached up and did the same, frowning at the dry skin. Hero pointed to the water, and Micky understood

Hero wasn’t leaving because he wanted to. Between going through the package of goodies, and Micky’s self-help hand job, Hero had been out of the water for too long.

“Go on,” Micky said with a grin, and pushed his hip.

Hero stood up and then held out his hand.

Micky wasn’t sure he could stand up, but he let Hero pull him up anyway. His knee buckled and he fell against the strong merman. Hero laughed, and Micky pouted up at him. With a smile, Hero scooped Micky up in his arms and carried him to the water.

“You better not drop—“

Hero dropped him, and Micky shut his eyes as he was sucked under the water. Before he could claw his way back to the surface, strong arms wrapped around him and supported him until air filled his lungs again.

“Oh god, you fucking bastard,” Micky said, clinging to the merman.

Hero’s body shook with barely suppressed laughter.

Micky bit his neck, and Hero’s laughter cut off, twisting into a pleased noise in this throat. Micky smirked. He hooked his legs around Hero’s waist and slid his hands down Hero’s sides. Sucking lightly, he moved his mouth up to Hero’s ear and pulled the lobe with his teeth.

Hero shivered and then turned his head. Their mouths collided, and Micky moaned into the harsh kiss. Micky barely had time to think about it before they were in the water, under the water and then out of the room. Glass pressed against his back, and Micky moaned. Hero dropped his hands to the back of Micky’s thighs, hoisted him higher.

Normally in a position like this, Micky would be grounding down on a hard dick and begging to be fucked. Instead, he was frozen, head swimming with pleasure as that firm tail pressed against him, rolling and thrusting against his erection. The rough slide of scales was intoxicating. He felt like a teenager again, so ready to come so fast.

Hero grunted and yanked Micky away from the glass too fast, and Micky’s world spun, filled with water again, and then he was thrown back on the sand.

Micky’s breath left him in a whoosh and his head went light, vision swimming. He had no time to recover from that before it was Hero’s mouth and tongue sliding up his chest, hands clenching his hips.

Micky whimpered and watched through blurry vision as Hero licked his nipple. Oh god, how long was his tongue? His mouth closed around the hard nub, and oh god, what about those teeth? Micky whimpered again and managed to tug on Hero’s hair, but the merman didn’t let up, sucking harshly.

Hero’s firm body pressed against his, testing his response. Micky moaned, hips rising into the light thrusts. His legs wrapped around Hero’s body, feet sliding on the scales of his tail.

Hero shuddered and moved his mouth up Micky’s neck. A pinprick of pain shot through his skin, and Micky hissed.

Worried, Hero pulled away, babbling apologetically while he pressed his fingers to the cut just above Micky’s collarbone.

Micky laughed and lifted his hand to the cut. He sighed at the sting and then pulled back to look at the blood on his fingers. He pressed them against Hero’s lips, and Hero’s eyes shut, tongue slipping out to lick them clean. Shuddering, Hero lowered his upper body, hands on either side of Micky’s head. He tongued the small slice, shivering even more, and Micky moaned as the sharp pain twisted into lust low in his stomach. He ran his hands over Hero’s strong back.

“Fuck, Hero,” Micky breathed, hips rising again to get those teasing thrusts back.

Hero lifted his head, their eyes met. His green eyes were dark but still cautious. Micky wrapped his arms around his neck, tightened his legs and their lips met in another kiss, and then another. Hero shifted back, pulling a whimper from Micky as that firm pressure from his tail morphed into a smooth slide of skin.

And a stiff, leaking erection pressed against his stomach.

“Fuck!” Micky shouted and ran his hands back down Hero’s body. He cupped his ass, fingers digging into firm muscle and pulled, sliding Hero against him.

Hero whimpered, mouth against Micky’s neck. Babbling something. His dick pulsed and Micky definitely understood. He took advantage of Hero’s incoherency and pushed his shoulder. He scrambled to his feet, headed for the hammock, and Hero followed after him, arms around his waist, erection pressed against his ass. Micky moaned, gripped behind his hip and behind his neck and waved against him, dick sliding on skin. Hero shivered, knee buckling.

“Lay down,” Micky said, turning and pushing Hero under the draped fabric and into the cooler shade.

Hero fell into the hammock, chest rising. Webbed fingers wrapped around his erection and stroked, and Micky licked dry lips, his own erection twitching.

“Mi-yee,” Hero said, whimpering, and Micky jerked alert, met his eyes and smiled before grabbing the lube from the middle drawer that he’d put there so many weeks ago.

He climbed over Hero, knees settling between the netting of the hammock and Hero’s hips. Micky definitely wanted to know what those webbed fingers felt like inside him, but not right now. He wasn’t patient enough to let Hero explore him inside and out.

He poured lube onto his fingers and reached under himself. Slick and wet slid over is entrance, and his eyes shut with a sigh, cock jumping with each sensitive brush.

“Mi-yee,” Hero whispered, confused, awed, questioning.

Micky opened his eyes, holding his gaze while the first finger pressed inside. “What?” he asked with a smile.

Hero bit his lower lip and tried to spread his legs, and Micky shook his head, holding him still with a hand on Hero’s knee. Micky understood suddenly, smiling wider. Hero hadn’t ever topped before. Or at least not lately. He expected Micky to be like the others who had taken what they wanted from him.

Hero placed shaking hands on Micky’s hips. Smiling, Micky pushed a second finger inside his body, and Hero pulled on his hips, Micky following so he was fucking his finger. He shut his eyes again as pleasure pulsated through his body. He leaned over and snagged Hero’s lower lip between his lips. He suckled on it, biting lightly and moved his fingers to the same rhythm.

Webbed fingers wrapped around his dick, and Micky cried out, trying not to come, not yet. God, please, not yet. His body thrummed with need, mouth open, panting against Hero’s lips, and then just before he was going to come, Hero tightened his hold, finger wrapped around the base and staved it off.

Micky whimpered, but kissed him in appreciation. He pressed a third finger into himself, and Hero’s hands went to his ass, rubbing and massaging up to his lower back and down to his upper thighs.

Micky doubted three fingers was enough preparation. He doubted four would be enough.

He didn’t care. Yanking himself away from Hero’s intoxicating mouth, Micky slinked back a bit. Hero’s hands spread on his thighs. He stared at Hero’s erection, licked his lips and touched it with a single finger. Hero shuddered, eyes wide, begging.

Micky smiled and dumped lube right onto his dick. He grabbed it, wrapped his fingers around the width and stroked. Hero shuddered again and babbled the same word over and over again.

“Yeah, hurry,” Micky said, getting what he meant when he felt Hero’s dick pulse under his hand.

He let go, and Hero whimpered.

Getting back into position, Micky reached behind him and lifted Hero’s cock. He sighed, eyes shut, as the soft head spread his cleft and then shivered as it brushed up and over his entrance. He teased himself, cock jerking and dripping precome.

Hero cried out from the sensations, and Micky knew he was too close to tease and didn’t really care. He held Hero firmly and pressed back. He bit his lower lip as the wide head breached him. It hurt, just enough to make him pause, just for a second, but Hero, of course didn’t know that, and lifted his hips with a whimper. Micky gasped at being penetrated too fast and too soon by something too thick. Hero babbled again, pulling back. Micky still had a hold of the base of him and went with him, to keep him inside his body. He didn’t want Hero to think he was hurting him.

Hero’s eyes shut tight, his fingers clenched, and then his body shuddered, and he cried out, body shaking as he pumped Micky full of come.

Micky smiled, gently clenching his muscles and sliding more of Hero into his body.

Hero whimpered, eyes wide with worry and Micky leaned over him, hands running over his neck and shoulders and kissed him, over and over, whispering things that Hero definitely didn’t understand.

Hero’s breath calmed, his body relaxed and his hands fell to Micky’s knees, rubbing softly.

Micky pulled away from his lips and smiled.

Hero’s smile was fleeting, eyes fluttering open and shut.

Micky stroked his own erection, and very carefully twisted his hips, lowered himself on Hero’s still-firm dick and whimpered _oh-my-god-so-stretched-fuck-so-good_ until he was sitting in Hero’s lap.

Definitely needed more prep.

Micky gasped, mouth open and shut, licking his lips again and again. He gripped Hero’s strong chest with both hands and slowly lifted himself up and down on Hero’s cock.

Hero moaned. One hand hooked around Micky’s neck and yanked him down for more kisses, and his other hand wrapped around Micky’s erection. It didn’t take long for Micky’s orgasm to grow, twist through his body, growing quickly from all the sensations.

Micky pulled away from his mouth with a wet smack, rolled his hips back and lifted, going a little faster, a little stronger. Hero’s dick squelched in and out of him, through his own mess.

A few more minutes and he was going to come from being penetrated so deep, and the webbing on his hand twisting just right over the head of his dick. He sat back, slowing his movement, head tilted. His fingers trailed up his chest and then ghosted over the cut. He opened his eyes, met Hero’s curious gaze and smiled. With his other hand he reached down and hooked his hand at the back of his neck and pulled him up. The hammock swayed dangerously, and they readjusted all without Hero sliding out of Micky’s body.

Micky tilted his head to the side, and Hero leaned forward, shaking breath warm on his skin. His mouth closed around skin, and then he sucked, hard, not bothering to watch his teeth. The pain shot up Micky’s spine, he arched his body into Hero’s and moved, up and down, fast on the wide cock spreading him almost too much.

Hero grunted, hand gripping Micky’s ass, moving him faster and harder. Webbed fingers gripped his erection again, and Micky cried out, yanking himself back, hands on Hero’s knees for leverage. Blood dripped down his chest, and Micky’s eyes shot open, mouth wide with a soundless scream. His body shuddered, cock pulsing and he shot come all over Hero’s chest. He collapsed, but didn’t fall, because Hero held him up, body still moving, thrusting up into him.

Micky wrapped his arms around Hero’s neck, lips spread in a sated smile. Hero whimpered and cried out, vocalizing his pleasure in a common language of lust and greed. Shouts, cries and whimpers.

Micky kissed Hero’s skin, nibbled on his ear. He tightened his sated muscles, gripped Hero’s back and breathed, moaned and gasped into his ear.

“Mi-yee, Mi-yee, Mi-yee.”

Micky shuddered at the desperation in his voice, in the unknown words falling from his lips. He held on to Hero’s shoulders and met his thrusts, slamming his hips down and their whimpers molded and their bodies shuddered, and Hero shouted, voice ripped out of his throat as he came inside Micky again.

They fell into the hammock, twisted and content, lips pressing in random places while their bodies calmed down.

“Mi-yee,” Hero whispered, voice hoarse.

Micky lifted his head and their lips met.

Hero’s breath was still a little short, and he lifted a hand to show Micky again that he had to get back in the water.

Micky smiled, and used his chest to push up. He lifted his hips, and moaned, lowering his body before Hero could slip out of him. Hero echoed his moan and then whimpered. Micky laughed as he did it again, and then with Hero’s hands on his hips, he lifted all the way off, gasping as Hero slipped free and slapped against his thigh. Come dripped from his body.

More than a little curious, Micky reached to his thighs and scooped up a clump. He brought it to his lips and sucked on his fingers. Hero’s eyes were wide as Micky reached for more. It tasted saltier, sort of like seaweed, and wasn’t any more unpleasant than his own come.

Hero grabbed his wrist as he went for more, and even Micky could feel how dry his skin was. With an apologetic smile, Micky did his best to climb off him. Still unsteady, he used the dresser to keep himself up and watched as Hero stood up. Come dripped off the tip of his flaccid penis and Micky licked his lips, dropped to his knees and flicked his tongue over the tip.

Hero’s hands landed on his head and he yanked Micky away with a pointed look, but not before his cock twitched in interest.

Micky laughed, pressed a quick kiss to it and then sat back on his knees. Hero smiled, trailed a finger down his cheek, and leaned down for a quick kiss. He headed for the water and Micky used the dresser to stand and followed after him.

Hero slipped into the tank and then turned around, arms bent on the edge. Micky sat in the sand and didn’t protest when Hero laid his head on his thigh. His tail flipped out of the water, and Micky rubbed his cheek.

“I love you,” Micky whispered.

Hero tilted his head up and looked at him. Micky wondered if Hero understood the words, or at least recognized them as something someone else had said. He smiled, so Micky decided it was the latter. He wondered if Hero would ever understand the words or the emotions behind them.

Micky’s life hadn’t been a lot to brag about, but he’d given it up for this merman. Hero pulled him into the water, their lips met and Micky knew that it had been worth it.


	8. Epilogue: Paradise

Micky stood on the wooden porch, eyes shut as the wind blew in from the ocean. The wind caught his open shirt, billowing it away from his body and showing off tanned skin and cobbled abs.

Yunho didn’t have enough money for Micky to buy his own island, but he did have enough to buy his own stretch of beach, isolated on the coast of Central America. A sheer face of rock curled into the ocean, forming a tranquil bay, and a perfect spot for Hero to swim and live. Further out, a natural reef kept the worst of the waves away, and also formed a barrier for most ships. He saved on food cost, since he no longer had to supply Hero’s food, but it cost a lot to have his own food and supplies shipped in.

The security was worth it.

Their villa wasn’t too far from civilization, so when Micky wanted or needed to, he could jump in his boat and go up the coast about an hour to be around people. But usually, Hero was enough for him.

The house itself was mostly open to the air and the elements, having only a few enclosed rooms (like bathrooms and a guest room). Off the master bedroom was a giant aquarium; no where near as large as the one at the old house, but large enough for Hero when he was in the house and needed to moisturize. It was the perfect size for Changmin the Crab though, and Little Changmin had moved into a tank that doubled as the coffee table in the main living room.

Strong arms wrapped around his waist, slipping under the shirt and Micky smiled and leaned against Hero’s body.

“Mi-yee, ee-woalee.”

Micky smiled wider. Hero had started calling him that two years ago, and Micky had no idea what it meant, but figured it was along the same lines as when he called his merman, “Hero-love.”

Something cool and sweet pressed against his lips and Micky opened his mouth and bit into a strawberry and smiled.

Hero kissed his neck. He dragged his teeth teasingly over the bronzed skin. Micky’s knees shuddered and he leaned against his merman heavily. With a chuckle, Hero let him go. Micky watched as he sauntered beautifully naked across the porch and down the stairs to the beach. Half way across the sand, Hero turned around and called his name.

Micky smiled and waved, signaling that he’d be down in a minute.

Hero ran into the water, splashing, and then dove into the next wave. His tail flipped up a moment later, sparkling in the sun.

There was always a nagging fear of what Hero would do without him, since Micky knew he wouldn’t live forever, but this place, and this area was definitely the best for the merman to live. It had been isolated for a reason, and it had been a pain in the ass building this house. Micky hoped that those particular circumstances left the area untouched after he was gone.

Hero shot up from the water, tail catching the light again, and then twisted in the air, and disappeared again.

Micky laughed and decided that he’d watched long enough. He hurried down the stairs and over the white sand, discarding his shirt and shorts as he went. He was only knee deep in the water before Hero swam up to him, yanked his feet out from under him and dragged him deeper so they could play.


End file.
